


Law & Order SVU/Max Headroom: Revenge

by ElegantButler



Category: Law & Order: SVU, Max Headroom - Fandom
Genre: Actual rape and violence happen behind the scenes., Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-07 16:26:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 5,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12236484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElegantButler/pseuds/ElegantButler
Summary: When an attack victim is found in an alley in New York, the Special Victims Unit team up with Edison Carter to discover their identity. But when Edison finds out the victim is his young coworker, Bryce Lynch, the case becomes personal.





	1. Victimized

Law & Order SVU/Max Headroom  
REVENGE

 

(Author's Note: This takes place in a mixed universe. While the location is primarily SVU, items and terms such as vidicam, credit tubes, and Zik Zak exist within. Also, this is written in British style so there are some stylistic differences, such as the lack of a dot after honorifics such as Mr, Mrs, or Dr .)

CHAPTER ONE: 

Jonathan Reys left the Lafayette Grill & Bar after a very satisfying meal and a couple of beers. He would have drank another beer on a Saturday, but this was Sunday night and he had work the next morning.

As he walked down Franklin Street he noticed a bare human leg sticking out from an alley. He ran toward it out of morbid curiosity and nearly vomited at what he saw...

*****

"What have we got here?" Lieutenant Olivia Benson asked in an urgent voice as she hurried into the hospital corridor, meeting up with her colleague Amanda Rollins.

"Rape victim," Amanda told her. "Male. Mid teens. Severely beaten. Broken bones. Internal injuries. Possible brain damage from multiple blows to the head. No ID and no credit tubes."

"Who found him?"

"Man named Reys," Amanda told her. "Was heading to his car from the Lafayette when he saw a leg sticking out of the alley. Said he only checked it out originally out of curiosity."

"Where is he now?" Benson asked.

Amanda pointed at an area of the waiting room where John Reys was sitting watching Edison Carter on Network 23.

"John Reys," Amanda told him, "this is Lieutenant Benson. She'd like to ask you a couple of things about the boy you found."

"Is he okay?" Jonathan asked, his voice concerned.

"He's unconscious," Benson told him. "We don't know if he suffered brain damage or even who he is."

Benson looked up at the TV. 

"Why don't you ask Edison Carter to help?" he suggested, watching said reporter on the screen. "He seems to be able to solve any mystery. Maybe he could find out who the victim is?"

Benson looked up at the reporter on the screen. She wanted to point out that Carter's show originated over in London, England. But as she watched, she noticed familiar landmarks behind the reporter. He was apparently in New York.

She remembered that Zik Zak was opening a new restaurant in New York near the area that had once been called the Bowery before it had been converted into a row of restaurants and minimarts.

One of those mini-marts had failed to thrive and was now being replaced by one of Zik Zak's Know Chow fast food joints. 

Apparently, Edison Carter was in town covering the opening of the restaurant. Well, the Special Victim's Unit had something far more important for him to cover.

*****

Sergeant Odafin Tutuola knocked on the door of the hotel room.  
"Edison Carter. This is the police."

Edison threw the door open. "Bryce?" he asked, looking around the detective who stood in the door.

"No. Detective Sergeant Tutuola," the detective corrected him. "Who's Bryce?"

"My coworker and best friend," Edison said. "I went out last night to do a few man-on-the-street interviews. When I came back, he'd gone out. He left a note saying he'd be back shortly. Is he in trouble."

"I don't know," Odafin admitted. "An assault victim was found a few hours ago. He's still unconscious. We found no form of ID on him. I don't know if our John Doe is your Bryce or not.

Edison felt the pain of guilt as he thought of Bryce possibly lying in a hospital bed, badly injured.

"Take me to him," he requested.

 

*****

"Edison Carter," Lieutenant Benson said as Edison rushed into the hospital with Sergeant Tutuola. "I'm Lieutenant Benson. This is my partner Detective Rollins."

"Where's the kid they brought in?" Edison asked. He needed to find out if it was Bryce as quickly as possible. They could ask questions and do the paperwork later."

"This way," Benson told him as she led him to the hospital room where Bryce had been placed.

Edison walked into the room. His heart sank when he saw Bryce.

Bryce Lynch was lying unconscious on the single bed that was in the room. His head was wrapped in bandages. There was a cast on the lower part of his left arm and another covering his entire right arm. His chest was also wrapped in a cast. Vital monitors beeped steadily as an oxygen mask rested on his face which was bruised around the eyes, one of which was swollen shut.

"Do they know who did this?" Edison asked, his voice full of anger and sadness.

"Not at this time," Benson apologized. "Is this your friend, then?"

Edison nodded. 

"Yes. It's him,” he answered heavily. 

“I know this is hard,” Benson told Edison. “But I need to ask you some questions.”

“I’ll tell you what I can,” Edison agreed.

*****

Edison went to the police station with Lieutenant Benson. He followed her into her office.

"Mr Carter, this is Sergeant Tutuola. Sergeant, this is Edison Carter."

"Mr Carter," Odafin said, "you say you know the victim."

"His name is Bryce Lynch. He's my friend and colleague."

"So he does odd jobs for you."

"He actually works at Network 23. He's one of the top graduates from the Academy of Computer Sciences."

"Did he have any enemies? Rivals?" Sgt Tutuola wanted to know. "Assaults of this type of severity usually suggest that the victim was targeted by their attacker."

"You're suggesting that someone wanted to harm Bryce specifically?" Edison felt even worse. Someone had it out for his friend. Or maybe for his entire team."

"The kid's a genius, right?" Odafin asked. "Then some guy decides to rape him and bash his head in. I don't think that's a coincidence. Now think, who do you know who might have a grudge against your friend?"

"The only person who comes to mind isn't a man. Valerie Towne was the head of Security Systems before she was sent to jail following a report I did on her," Edison explained. "She illegally changed my personal info to make it look like I committed credit fraud. I asked Bryce to hack the system and change it back. He wasn't able to, but Max befriended SS's artificial intelligence program, A7, and he was able to convince her to switch it back for me."

"How far did Bryce get when he tried to hack the system?" Odafin wanted to know.

"He got in far enough to get us clearance as housekeepers," Edison admitted. "We got inside and made another attempt. But we got caught and thrown into a thermal testing chamber. A7 released us under Max's request. Otherwise, we both would have died there and then."

"I'll look into this Valerie Towne," Odafin told him. "It's possible she may have hired someone to hit your friend."

"If she did..." Edison snarled, angrily.

"Just leave her to us," Odafin warned. "Your job is to look after your friend. Not to go after his attackers. That's our job."

“I want to be there when they arrest the guy,” Edison countered. “I want to see Bryce’s attacker brought to justice.”

“He will be,” Odafin promised.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO:

 

Dr Morgan studied the unconscious boy who had been brought into the examination room. As a brain injury specialist, he had seen many cases of brain injuries that had been the result of physical violence. Everything from abused wives whose husbands had decided that the best way to control them was to disable them to overzealous football players, who thought their heads were tough enough to handle just about anything they could be rammed into. What he never got over, however, were the deliberate attacks that sometimes happened to teens and children. Some came in from abusive families. Others, like this one, had been the result of someone trying to put a young genius out of commission either as a result of jealousy, or paranoia or revenge.

Whatever the reason was not Dr Morgan’s concern, even though it worried him. His job was to examine the patient and hope to god the damage was not irreparable.

“Nurse, I want an OR prepped for immediate surgery,” he told Esther Barron, a woman in her early thirties who stood by awaiting his instructions.

“Yes, doctor,” Nurse Barron replied, heading off to follow up on his orders.

Dr Morgan turned back to Bryce as he prepared him for a brain scan. As he prepared the neuroimager, he wondered what would happen to his patient when Bryce’s diagnosis came through. The boy was a visiting foreigner, and would eventually have to return to London for care. Dr Morgan wished he knew more about London’s medical centers and their treatment plans for TBI.

Bryce was placed in the scanner. Dr Morgan carefully went over each part of his brain, frowning as he saw that significant damage had been done. Fragments of bone had gone even deeper than the initial x-rays had shown. Some shards had even gone as far as to pierce the boy’s parietal lobe all the way through to the temporal lobe. Viewing the damage on the scanner, Dr Morgan was surprised that the boy was even alive. 

*****

Edison stood in front of the new Zik Zak Know Chow. He hated being there. He hated the fact that Cheviot had insisted that he cover the opening rather than allowing him to be with Bryce. Bryce needed Edison more than Zik Zak did.

“This is Edison Carter coming to you live and direct from the Zik Zak Know Chow in New York City,” he grumbled. “Fast food. Who needs it? I don’t. Do you? Apparently, Zik Zak seems to think you do as they’ve opened up yet another burger joint where you can get all the junk food you like. As long as it’s a burger, a sugary drink and Crunch Fries.”

“Cut it,” Murray’s voice said on the other end of the link. “Edison, I know you’re upset about Bryce, but you need to remain professional. Let’s try this again. And this time, try not to sound like Max.”

*****

“The attack on Bryce really has him on edge,” Theora remarked to Murray as they listened to Edison’s new spiel. Thankfully, Edison did not repeat his earlier sarcasm.

“It’s worse than when Paddy was killed,” Murray said, thoughtfully.

“Probably because Bryce is so young, and because he was so intelligent.”

“Was,” Theora sighed, choking back tears. “We don’t know how much of that intellect was spared. “For all we know he’s just a vegetable now.”

“Let’s not give up hope yet,” Murray told her. “Until he wakes up we won’t know for sure.”

“If he wakes up,” Theora corrected her boss.


	3. First Suspect

CHAPTER THREE: The First Suspect

Detective Dominick Carisi Jr was sitting at his desk going over a case file when Odafin Tutuola walked into the office.

“So far we’ve only got one suspect in the Lynch case,” he said. “And she’s in jail.”

“So we’re talking about a hit,” Carisi noted. “Who’s the suspect?”

“Valerie Towne,” Tutuola told him. “Apparently, Lynch got on her bad side when he tried to hack A7.” Seeing Carisi’s look of confusion he added. “That’s Security Systems’ artificial intelligence program.”

“Why’d Carter ask Bryce to hack Security Systems?” Carisi asked. Hacking was, after all, a serious crime.

“Apparently Towne illegally changed Carter’s file to make him look like a criminal,” Odafin told him. “Carter just wanted it changed back to the way it was. Bryce wasn’t able to make the changes, so Max Headroom apparently sweet-talked A7 into fixing the record.”

“So why not go after this Max… what did you say his last name was?”

“Headroom,” Odafin told him. “You must’ve seen him on Network 23.”

“I don’t watch TV much,” Carisi told him. “Just the news.”

“Max Headroom is Network 23’s artificial intelligence program,” Odafin told him. “A real wiseacre. Anyhow, killing a computer isn’t very satisfying, so Towne’s decided to go after his creator. And that creator is our victim.”

“So now we’ve just got to find out who she hired to make the hit,” Carisi said. “If it was someone she spoke to in person, we’ll have to get securicam files for the visits she’s had since she’s been in jail.”

“But it might be someone from over here,” Odafin suggested. “I’ll get London’s prison’s view phone records and check for overseas calls to the States.”

“Have Carter help you out,” Carisi suggested. “Sounds like he’s doing a good job of it so far.”

“Edison Carter is too emotionally involved in this case,” Odafin told him. “Lynch was his colleague and best friend according to him. Now he’s in a hospital with a severe brain injury and chances are he’ll never wake up.”

“Life can be real harsh sometimes,” Carisi sympathised. 

“What about the semen sample from the rape?”

“Doesn’t match any perps in our files,” Carisi replied. “The guy’s either never done something like this before, or he’s just never got caught.”

“So all we have is the records from the London jail,” Odafin grumbled. 

*****

Edison sat in the empty hospital room. Bryce’s bed was empty, Bryce himself currently in an operating room, under the knife.

Edison was angry. Angry with himself for insisting that Bryce come to the States with him. Angry at Valerie Towne, whom he was sure had hired someone to hurt Bryce. Angry with the unknown man who had hurt Bryce.

He wanted the man exposed for what he’d done. Wanted him in jail. Wanted the story of what he’d done told on Network 23. He wanted to make sure if the man did get out of jail, he’d never find a job or be able to own a home. If, that is, he didn’t get the death penalty.

Edison thought about Bryce. About the brilliant mind that was now at the mercy of a surgeon’s scalpel. About the immense intelligence that might even now be snuffed out by a man neither Bryce nor Edison knew anything about.


	4. Surgery and Waiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bryce is under the knife while Edison waits.

CHAPTER FOUR: Surgery and Waiting

Dr Morgan and his team worked very carefully. Dr Morgan carefully removed the shards and fragments of bone from the teenaged brain with all great consideration and concern while his surgical tech, Amanda Richards, stood by handing him each instrument as it was requested..

On a tv monitor near the ceiling in one corner, Max Headroom popped in briefly to watch the proceedings. But it soon became too strenuous for him and he quietly disappeared from the screen without saying a word.

Dr Morgan’s eyes did not show the sadness he felt as he worked. Each fragment he removed took what seemed like forever. 

“How’s he doing,” the doctor asked the anesthetist. .

“Pulse is low but steady,” the other man replied.

“Hang in there, Bryce,” Dr Morgan prayed as he removed another fragment of bone. “Please hang in there.”

“Pulse is falling, doctor!” the anesthetist warned. 

“Atropine, point five milligrams,” Dr Morgan ordered.

The dose was administered.

“Pulse rate is stabilizing.”

Dr Morgan continued working on the injured brain, half-wishing that the boy hadn’t survived. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how the injuries would affect him. He knew the medical, mental, and physical effects the wounds might have. What would always elude him, he knew, were the emotional and spiritual effects his patients often had to deal with.

*****

“Any word on Bryce?” Theora asked Edison over his vidicam link as he sat in the waiting room near the operating room.

“Nothing so far,” Edison told her. “I never should’ve brought him here. Even if he lives, we might lose him to an institution if his brain injuries are bad enough.”

Theora cringed at the thought.

“I hope it’s not that bad,” she told Edison. “We can look after him if it’s not too bad, right?”

“I’d like to believe we could,” Edison told her. “I just don’t know if I actually can.”

“Whatever happens,” Theora told him, “we’ll get through it.”


	5. After Surgery / Fears

CHAPTER FIVE: After Surgery / Fears

“Edison Carter?”

Edison looked up to see Dr Morgan standing over him. The man had a grim look on his face and for a moment Edison feared the worst.

“Bryce?” he asked, weakly.

“Bryce is in recovery,” Dr Morgan told him. “Whether he awakens or not remains to be seen. There were a large number of bone fragments lodged in his brain, so I’m afraid it’s likely that he will be at least partially disabled.”

“In what way?” Edison asked, his heart sinking.

“We won’t know until he regains consciousness,” the doctor told him. “However, he suffered damage to the parietal and temporal lobe, so our chief concerns right now are Gerstmann’s syndrome and communications difficulties.”

“Gerstmann’s…” Edison began to ask.

“Amongst other things, it is characterized by problems with maths and logic,” the doctor explained.

“That would be devastating to him,” Edison said. “He was always so proud of his intellect.”

“It’s a blow he may have to learn to deal with,” Dr Morgan explained. “Come to my office. There are some things we’ll need to go over…”

****

Bryce lay on the bed, surrounded by machines which kept a record of his heart rate and brain function. Amidst the other noises, the EEG readings beeped slowly and erratically, his brain struggling to function as normally as it could. 

He could hear the sound. He understood, to some simple degree, what it meant. His thought processes had been all but destroyed. He might have a few good ideas left, but he would probably never again be able to reason them out logically. He tried to concentrate on the Fibonacci sequence, an old favourite of his. But he could no longer make it past the first four digits.

He didn't want to wake up. Didn't want to face the average-at-best teenager he'd doubtlessly become. He didn't want to talk, fearing the words would come out indecipherable, or like those of a drunkard. Didn't want to do anything that would drive home the terrible thing that had happened to him.

So he lay there, keeping his eyes closed against the dreaded wakefulness he must one day face.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX: Awakenings and Concerns.

Edison sat next to Bryce’s bed. The monitors all said that he should be awake. But Bryce’s eyes remained closed.

“Bryce,” he said, gently. “I know you’re awake, kid. Look, I’m not going to abandon you, just because you suffered some brain damage. It wasn’t your fault.”

Bryce opened his eyes. He blinked at Edison. His mind struggled to remember a name. For a long moment nothing did, then one did come. It didn’t seem right somehow, but he tried it out.

“M-Max?” he stuttered a little.

“Not quite,” Edison told him wondering if the stutter was the result of the brain damage or simple a hesitation as he pointed at the screen where Max Headroom had just appeared. “That’s Max over there.”

“Oh you’re awake,” Max noticed. “It’s good to see-see-see you awake again. Again.”

“Who are.... you?” Bryce asked. “You look a ....little strange.”

“Max is a computer-generated person,” Edison explained. “You made him a few months ago.”

“I made him?” Bryce struggled to say. He seemed to want to add something, but couldn’t find the words he wanted to say.

Edison nodded. He was trying to maintain a cheerful expression to keep Bryce happy. But hearing the difficulties Bryce was having with communicating with him was hurting his heart. He wanted the old Bryce back. The one who seemed to have an instant answer for everything, even if some of those answers might seem a little naive. He knew it was never going to happen, though. And it would be unfair to Bryce to not accept him as he now was.

“I’m Edison Carter,” he explained. “You used my mind to create Max. That’s why we look similar.”

“Oh,” was all that Bryce could manage at the moment.

Edison clasped Bryce’s hand between his in a comforting gesture.

“You’re not going to be the same,” he said, truthfully. “But you will adapt.”

“Edison” Bryce stumbled on the name, “I’m scared. Where will I go... after I get out of here?”

“I don’t know,” Edison admitted. “You need help now. But we’ll figure something out. I promise.”

Bryce closed his eyes. “How… how do I know… you?”

“We met at Network 23. You work there with me.”

“I… doubt I’ll be working there… now.” Bryce said, bitterly. “Not… not like this.”

“Hmm…” Edison pondered. “Well, even so, we’re still friends.”

“I’m glad,” Bryce told him.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN: Edison’s Dilemmas.

Edison was sitting in his hotel room that evening after visiting hours had ended at the hospital. He had been thinking on the drive from the hospital. Two important things had entered his mind.

The first was that Bryce would not be able to survive living on his own away from Network 23. Bryce had been sheltered all his life, and even without Gerstmann’s syndrome, he would not have lived long in the Fringes. And at his age, it would be doubtful anyone would rent an apartment to him. So they would need to find a safe place for him to live, given that he would most likely be replaced as Network 23’s head of Research & Development.

He was waiting at a red light when the other problem, a bigger one, came up.

Edison was wondering if Bryce should be told that he had been raped.

The crime had been committed. And the man who’d done it deserved to be in jail. But Bryce probably didn’t remember. And he was already going through so much.Surely the man who’d attacked him was already going to be imprisoned for bashing Bryce’s head in! Why burden Bryce with an aspect of the attack he might not remember.

But then, what if it was brought up in a trial? Was it really fair to Bryce for the truth to be withheld? And how much of the assault did Bryce remember? Maybe he did remember that part of it.

And if Edison did talk to Bryce, how would affect the trial? Would the criminal’s lawyer try to convince a jury that Bryce’s mind was so damaged that anyone could convince him that something had taken place when it hadn’t? 

For that matter, could Bryce’s mind even withstand the strain of a trial in its current condition?

Now that Edison was back in the hotel room, he realized that he didn’t have any answers. He thought about calling Theora, but it was late and he doubted she would appreciate being interrupted during dinner.

Instead, he called Murray. 

“Edison? How’s Bryce?”

“Awake,” Edison said. “But I doubt Cheviot will keep him on. The doctor says he has Gerstmann’s syndrome. Which among other things means his skill with maths and logic isn’t what it used to be. Plus he has loss of finger memory.”

Murray put his head in his hands. “I’ll let Cheviot know in the morning.”

*****

Edison stared at Cheviot’s image on the screen.

“I can understand Bryce not returning to Network 23,” Edison said. “But to leave him here! You can’t!”

“The doctor says there is a hospital there which can treat his condition,” Cheviot said. “Our medical centres don’t have the facilities. And you are too busy with your reports to look after him.”

“I won’t have him spend the rest of his life in an institution!” Edison shouted. “He’s not stupid! He knows what’s going on. He has trouble with some things now, but not enough to make him unable to live with a roommate.”

“I’m sorry, Edison. But…”

“Either Bryce returns to England, or I don’t return either,” Edison said, firmly.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT:

Edison walked into Bryce’s hospital room. The teen looked distraught, and Edison realized that Cheviot must’ve spoken to him.

“Bryce,” he said, “I’m not leaving you. I don’t care what Cheviot says.”

“He’s... right, though,” Bryce told him. “Given my current con...dition, Network 23 is better off without me.”

“He said that?” Edison demanded. “How dare he speak to you that way! And even if Network 23 was better off, which it isn’t even if you can’t do the job you once did, that doesn’t give him the right to just abandon you! We can find you help in England where you belong.”

“Thank you, Edison,” Bryce said. “I’m glad you’re my... friend.”

*****  
Olivia Benson walked into Bryce’s hospital room the next day. 

“Bryce,” she said, gently. “I’m Olivia Benson. I’m with the police department. Can you understand me?”

“I can,” Bryce replied. “As long as you don’t ask me about maths. I have a… little trouble with that now.”

“He has Gerstmann’s syndrome,” the doctor explained.

“Bryce,” Benson asked him. “Do you remember anything about how you got here?”

Bryce thought about it. He shook his head. 

“No,” he finally replied. “I’m sorry. I just... remember waking up here and my brain... being all screwed up. But if the police are… here… Oh god… someone hit me on purpose? They… attacked me… I just wish I could remember…”

Edison walked in.

“May I see you?” he asked.

Benson followed him into the hall.

“Did you tell him?” he asked. Then added. “That he was raped?”

“Not yet,” Benson replied. “I asked him what he remembers about how he got here. He doesn’t. It could be because of the brain damage. Or his psyche might be repressing it. Either way, unless he remembers on his own, we can’t do anything. If we prompt him, a jury might see it as planting a false memory.”

“Even without the injury, I don’t think he’d understand,” Edison told her. “Bryce has always been very sheltered. I think the most violence he’s ever experienced before has been fouls in Scumball games.”

“I hate that sport,” Benson said. “I was a baseball fan until they closed it down because of the war that followed the International Series of 99.”

“Wasn’t that the US versus Istanbul?” Edison tried to remember.

“Australia versus Istanbul, actually,” Benson corrected him. “Australia, Turkey, and Mauritius got into baseball in 96. In 98 they formed the International Baseball League. And then the whole world went to hell over a bad call that cost Australia the series.”

“How do you remember that? Most people have forgotten the cause of the war.”

“I have a talent for minutia,” Benson explained. 

 

“I’m guessing that’s one of the reasons you’re so good at what you do.”

Benson nodded in Edison’s direction. “It helps.”


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE:

“You’ll be discharged this afternoon,” the doctor told Bryce while he was examining him. “Where you go from here is up to the people at Network 23, I guess. I’d let you stay a few days, but I’m afraid international insurance only covers two days maximum.”

“So, I’m off to an insti…” Bryce trailed off.

“You very well could be,” the doctor admitted sadly. “I’m afraid Cheviot is right when he says there’s no treatment centres in England that you could benefit from.”

“I’m not a… complete inva… invalid,” Bryce pointed out, weakly.

“No, you aren’t,” the doctor agreed. “But your condition isn’t one that most people can help you with. They need to be very patient for one thing. And you need constant supervision because of some of the symptoms of Gerstmann’s syndrome.”

“I don’t want them to make me worse,” Bryce protested. “I don’t want my brain screwed up more with drugs and stuff.”

“I don’t blame you,” the doctor told him. “However, Cheviot’s having you discharged in an hour so the Network won’t have to pay the fee for an additional day.”

Seeing the look of confusion on Bryce’s face, the doctor explained. “We charge a patient an additional day if he or she stays past bed change.”

“So, when the blankets come… off… I have to leave?” Bryce asked.

“That’s the gist of it, I’m afraid,” the doctor apologised. “They should be here in ten minutes.”

Bryce felt sick with horror. He was going to be put away, simply for a head injury. A tear came to his eye and he brushed it away, angry at himself for behaving so emotionally.   
*****

Edison drank his coffee and looked at the clock. It would be another two hours before he could visit Bryce. To pass the time, he decided he would talk with Lieutenant Benson about the case. Tapping her number on the view phone, he took another sip of his coffee.

“Mr. Carter,” Benson said, putting down her own cup of coffee. “I’m sorry to say we still don’t have any leads. We’re working on getting a record of phone calls made from the prison where Valerie Towne is staying. It’s the best we can do right now.”  
Odafin appeared on the screen behind Benson. “Carter,” he said, “Good news. We just got hold of the prison records. We still need to go through Mrs. Towne’s calls. But as soon as we do, we’ll let you know.”

“I could have Max Headroom go through them,” Edison offered.

“It needs to be a police investigation or the court will dismiss it as hearsay.”

“Understood,” Edison said.

*****

Bryce shook his head as he huddled in the corner of the hospital room.

“Go away,” he said, fearfully. “I don’t want to go.”

“Mr. Cheviot has already committed you to our care,” the paramedic from the institution’s ambulance told him. “Now come here or we’ll have to sedate you.”

Bryce struggled as the paramedic and hospital doctor held him down. A needle pierced his arm and he let out a scream of rage. Moments later, he was half asleep, his mind fuzzy, his eyes blurry.

He felt himself being picked up and placed on a stretcher.

*****  
Edison arrived at the hospital and found Bryce’s bed empty.

“Nurse,” he asked, “where is the patient who was in room 45?”

The nurse turned to him. “He was committed to Stafford Institution this morning just after bed change.”

“On whose authority?” Edison demanded angrily.

“Ben Cheviot, I believe,” the nurse explained.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN: Commitment and Liberation

Bryce woke in the institution some time later. He was in a bed wearing a set of hospital pyjamas and a plastic bracelet with his name and date of admittance on it. He felt groggy from the sedative he’d been given. He sat up and was immediately overcome with dizziness.

A nurse came in and gave him a pill. “It’s Perphenazine,” she told him. “Just take it. Because if you don’t it will mean you’ll be spending the next couple of hours in the Quiet Room.”

Bryce was too out of it to consider not taking the pill. He did and then half-collapsed back onto the bed. 

“Bryce Lynch,” a psychiatrist said as he walked into the room.

Bryce looked up and wondered which of the two men were speaking. They seemed identical, though one seemed a bit more wobbly-looking than the other. 

“you have been committed to this asylum. You will be staying here for the remainder of your life. You will be expected to take the medication we give you without argument, otherwise you will be placed in the Quiet Room.”

Bryce put his head back down, too tired to keep it up any longer.

“You will listen when you are spoken to, otherwise you will spend a week in the solitary confinement wing.”

Bryce did not raise his head, he was almost asleep from the drugs he’d been made to take.

Edison stood beyond the gate of the Stafford Institution and aimed his vidicam.   
“This place looks like a prison, not a treatment centre,” he told Control. “I can’t believe Cheviot actually had Bryce committed here.”

“Save him, Edison,” Theora said.

“What are you going to do when this gets back to Cheviot?” Murray asked.

“If Cheviot still insists that this is the best place for Bryce after seeing this footage, I’m going over to Network 66.” Edison avowed.

“I guess Grossberg’s not really so bad if you think of how Cheviot’s been acting lately,” Murray conceded.

“I think what Murray is trying to say,” Theora told him, “is that we’ll be glad to join you.”

Edison walked up to the gate.

“No reporters,” the guard to him.

Edison walloped him with the vidicam, then paused to make a call with the guard’s vu-phone.

“ Benson,” Olivia answered. “Carter, where are you?”

“Breaking into Stafford,” Edison said. “I’ve got to rescue Bryce. Cheviot had him committed and this doesn’t look like the right kind of place for someone with Gerstmann’s syndrome. More like a place for the criminally insane.”

“Stay where you are,” Olivia ordered. “I’m sending a unit to get him out.”

Olivia turned to Amanda. “Go with Odafin. Get Bryce Lynch out of Stafford before they screw him up so bad he can’t testify at all.”

Amanda and Odafin headed out to a squad car and sped off to Stafford Institution.

Edison was about to give up waiting and barge in when the squad car arrived.

“About time,” he said. “They could be lobotomizing him as we speak. We’ve got to hurry!”

Amanda turned to tell Edison to wait, but there was no way in hell Edison was just going to stand there when a friend’s well-being was jeopardised.

“Do what you have to,” she said, “film it. Report it. Just stay out from under foot.”

The two detectives and Edison went up to the main entrance to the institution.

“Detectives Rollins and Tutuola and Edison Carter,” Amanda said. “We’re here to retrieve Bryce Lynch.”

“Lynch was committed,” the doctor who approached them said. “He won’t be going anywhere.”

Edison aimed his vidicam at him. “Perhaps you would like to explain why a person who is suffering from a relatively minor disability such as Gerstmann’s syndrome was committed to an asylum for the criminally insane?”

“It was under the direction of Ben Cheviot,” the doctor explained.

“I am formally taking responsibility for Bryce,” Edison said. “And I demand you hand him over to me.”

“He’s in room seven,” the doctor said.

Edison hurried into room seven. Bryce was laying on the bed, very out of it.

“Bryce,” he said. “What did they do to you?”

“Drugged,” Bryce told him, sleepily. “Perphe… Perri…”

“Perphenazine,” Odafin said as he picked up Bryce. “That stuff’s bad news. Most places don’t use it these days.”  
Edison turned to Bryce. “How much did they give you?”  
“I…” Bryce passed out.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Odafin told him. “This is no time for reporting.”

Edison followed Odafin and Amanda out of the institution and to the squad car. He wanted to report what he’d seen. But he knew if he tried, they’d release information saying that Bryce had been committed to their care, information that would ruin Bryce’s chances of getting any type of job.

He also realized that if he tried to speak out against Network 23, Cheviot would do the same thing.


End file.
